BDRC Hotel Guest Survey shows British demand for hotel rooms on increase

Demand for hotel rooms by British travellers has increased and guests are expecting more, revealed this year's British Hotel Guest Survey from specialist hotel researcher BDRC Continental.

The results also showed that services such as AirBnB are posing a threat to business and that marketing to more savvy consumers was becoming more of a challenge.

Hotel brand Ibis Budget was named the BDRC Most Improved Brand for 2014, while Hilton was named the No.1 Brand in the business market and overall, and Premier Inn came top in the leisure market.

Doubletree and Hampton Inn / Hampton by Hilton were also commended for their significant year-on-year brand performance progress, while IHG brands Holiday Inn and Holiday Inn Express were also praised for their brand refresh and new products.

Total demand for hotel rooms in Britain from British travellers had increased by 2% year-on-year, to 108m adult room nights, with a 50:50 split between business and leisure. Business conference levels were also up to a rate not seen since before the recession.

The results also showed that guests are expecting more from their hotel experience, including demanding services like free Wi-Fi.

In addition, despite heavy investment in marketing over the past year, results showed it has been more difficult to get through to consumers "more adept at screening out unwanted advertisements". Rates of engagement among Generation Y customers also meant that AirBnB posed a "disruptive threat", according to BDRC research manager Leonie Bulman.

BDRC summarised the results by calling 2014 a "year of change", and announced this year's survey at its launch event at De Vere Holborn Bars.

The BDRC British Hotel Guest Survey polls 1,000 business travellers and 1,000 leisure travellers representative of the British hotel-staying population.